Hi Stuart. I had an AA inspection carried out on my Peugeot 207cc prior to buying it. The AA identified 5 issues that needed attention, of which the dealer agreed to correct as a condition of sale prior to purchase.

I finally picked up the car on 5th August 2017. I did not drive the car much (as I am recovering from cancer) but when I did, the car would stall when it was stationary. At first, I put it down to me getting used to the car, but after my partner drove it a few times, he mentioned that it was happening to him as well. Although it was 4th December by this time, it was still under warranty so I contacted the garage I bought the car from and told them that the problem was the cold idle (which was identified originally by the AA, & assured by the dealer that it had been repaired).

He did not seem surprised that there was this problem, and eventually agreed to have my car in for repair on 16th January 2018 & said he would text me when it was done. By 20th January I had not heard from him, so I text him asking for an update. On 22 January I text him again asking what was happening. He responded saying that he had been out of office but would chase up garage the next day & that he would text me back. Again I heard nothing from him so I sent another text 29th January, asking for an explanation of why it was taking so long.

On 30th January, I raised a complaint by email to the dealer asking for a full refund of the purchase price using my final right to reject under the consumer rights act, due to the unreasonable amount of time it was taking. I heard nothing until 14 February, when he text to say car was ready and that he had got to collect it from the garage the next day. He had not even acknowledged my complaint but I thought I would wait for him to contact me the following day to say that I could go and pick my car up. Again, I heard nothing so on 16th February I emailed a 2nd complaint. In both emails, I asked him to confirm if he was part of an ADR scheme.

After 28 days from the date of the original complaint, (27 March) I emailed the motor ombudsman to see if they could help however on 23 April was told that he was not registered with them. So I sent a 3rd complaint and attached pdf copies of my previous emails followed by a text to him asking him to acknowledge my email. I text him again on 24th April to which he replied that he had been out of the office but would respond next day. I text again 26th April to which he said he had been out of office and been seriously ill for last few weeks but would respond when back later that day. I then text him again 28th April to which he responded that he still hadn’t been well enough to go in and also that he wasn’t part of an ADR scheme.

I’m at the end of my tether, he still has my car and I can’t get a response to my emails from him. If I now take him to court do you think I have a chance of using my right to reject based on the unreasonable time taken?

Hi Tracey. Are you saying that the dealer has had your car since 16 January? I would suggest you need to talk to a lawyer.

Texting or emailing every few days or weeks will never get you anywhere, as it’s all too easy for him to ignore you. The only way he will properly respond to you is via phone or in person. It sounds like he is simply fobbing you off with excuses and will never make any effort to actually resolve the problem or refund you.